[This first-hand account comes from the President of the Harvard Queer Students and Allies, who was among those arrested at Occupy Boston in the early AM hours of Tuesday, Oct. 11. Join the Impact MA is gathering with the Occupy Boston protestors outside South Station starting at 6 PM for a National Coming Out Day Speak-Out.]
“In terms of news there were some interesting things:
“The protesters remained peaceful throughout the entire course of the protest, chanting “this is a peaceful protest” even as their friends were being overpowered, handcuffed, and forced into police
trucks.
“A large number of the plastic handcuffs were deployed recklessly, put on so tight that they severely restricted circulation. I actually watched my hands turn blue while the sympathetic police around me didn’t have the proper tools to cut my handcuffs off. Many of the other protesters around me were in the same situation, and it appeared that the some of the police officers were not very familiar with these handcuffs. A man who
appeared to be in his 60s or 70s nearby me was accidentally cut on his wrists by a police officer because his handcuffs were put on so tight that they were impossible to remove without cutting his flesh.
“The police had very mixed attitudes throughout the night. Some were respectful and seemed to sympathize with the cause. Others were intimidating and angry. When one protester in my group was making his bail
call, one of the police officers joked that he needed to hurry up ” ’cause the beatings start at 4:30!”. This is obviously an inappropriate joke to make in any context, but particularly inappropriate for police officers to make
to prisoners.
“In combination with a number of other inappropriate jokes of a sexual nature, this constituted an embarassing lack of professionalism on behalf of the Boston Police Department.
“Our bail was paid by someone representing Occupy Boston, and I was release around 7 am this morning. Our case will be heard on Wednesday morning.
“Right now I need to collapse and then do a pset. Feel free to use anything I wrote hear in an update in the Crimson, or to pass this along to anyone else in the Crimson.”
